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Court upholds 2014 reapportionment plan

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HARRISBURG - The state Supreme Court upheld a reapportionment plan in a unanimous decision Wednesday that will shift a state House district in Lackawanna County to neighboring Monroe County and split Hazle and Hanover townships between Luzerne County House districts.

The court decision clears the way for candidates to run in redrawn boundaries for the 203 House districts and 50 Senate districts starting with the 2014 election. The new boundaries take effect after the November 2014 election.

The court upheld a revised reapportionment plan approved last June by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission that also moves the 40th Senate district based in Allegheny County to Monroe County to reflect population shifts.

The decision creates a potential scenario where freshmen Democratic Reps. Kevin Haggerty, D-112, Dunmore; and Frank Farina, D-115, Jessup, could wind up competing against each other to represent the same district if both seek reelection.

Faster-growing Monroe County gains the 115th district. The Midvalley, where Farina resides, shifts to the 112th.

Voters in 2014 will see these additional changes in Northeastern Pennsylvania Districts:

- The city of Scranton will continue to be split between the 112th District currently represented by Haggerty and the 113th District currently represented by Democratic Rep. Marty Flynn.

- Although the 2014 plan reduces the number of split municipalities, it still creates some municipal splits such as Hazle Township, split between the 116th and 119th House districts in Luzerne County; Hanover Township, split between the 119th and 121st House districts in Luzerne County; and the city of Pottsville, split between the 123rd and 125th House districts in Schuylkill County.

- The 116th District currently represented by Republican Rep. Tarah Toohil, Butler Township, will include Hazleton and District One in Hazle Township, as well as other Luzerne County municipalities.

- The 119th District currently represented by Democratic Rep. Gerald Mullery, Newport Township, will include Nanticoke, Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Hazle Township, Ward 6 in Hanover Township and other Luzerne County municipalities.

- The 121st District represented by Democratic Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, Wilkes-Barre, will include Wilkes-Barre, Wards 1,2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 in Hanover Township and other Luzerne County municipalities.

- The 14th Senate District represented by Democratic Sen. John Yudichak, Nanticoke, will include the cities of Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Pittston and their surrounding municipalities and all of Carbon County.

An original reapportionment plan was thrown out by the Supreme Court in February 2012 on grounds it violated the state Constitution by splitting two many municipalities. That led the reapportionment commission to come up with the revised plan reducing the number of splits while legislative candidates ran in the 2012 election on district boundaries in effect since 2002.

"We can now look forward to the 2014 cycle to be conducted on more accurate lines based on the more recent (2010) census," said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, Chester.

"Of the state's 2,567 municipalities, only 68 or 2.37 percent have been split in this (upheld) plan," said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Allegheny County.

But Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, D-43, Pittsburgh, said the court had an opportunity to order a plan that would be fairer and have even fewer splits than the one it upheld.

rswift@timesshamrock.com

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